


Aught but Death

by booksmusicandmagic



Series: Shadowhunter Short Stories [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Coda, Episode: s02e20 Beside Still Water, Gen, Parabatai, Parabatai Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 20:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12733992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booksmusicandmagic/pseuds/booksmusicandmagic
Summary: Par-a-ba-tai: A parabatai is a pair of Nephilim warriors who fight together as lifelong partners, bound together by oath, regardless of their gender. Their bond is not reflected only in their closeness and willingness to lay down their lives for one another, but also in oath—one sworn in front of the Council.----------A kinda-sorta coda to 2x20. Parabatai stuff.





	Aught but Death

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiwinights](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiwinights/gifts).



> So, I recently discovered that Kiwinights, the person I dedicated my ‘Writing Tips’ to, is, in fact, my Parabatai’s alter ego. Thanks for not telling me that before I acted like I didn’t know you, Ara! *sigh* Oh well. So, if you see me collaborating with her on her stories of whatever, don’t be surprised. We know each other. Lol.  
> This is dedicated to you, my darling, scheming parabatai. Enjoy.

_Demon child…_

Knives, one after another, slam into the board at the other side of the room.

_Where have you gone, little one?_

A clatter as one bounces off and hits the floor.

_You belong to me._

A hiss of pain and frustration as the voices grow louder, louder, louder….

_Come to me, Jonathan, come..._

“Jace.”

A hand touches his shoulder, and, acting on instinct, Jace whirls around, tossing the knife straight at the other’s head. Eyes widening when they register dark, ebony hair, hazel-green eyes, tall cheekbones, and a black deflect rune…

Alec jerks sideways, the knife just grazing the tip of his ear. “Woah,” he says, raising his arms non-threateningly. “Same side, remember?”

Jace flashes back to that first time he met Alec, the young boy struggling with his confidence in the battlefield, something Jace had abundant of, even back then. Then, that time on the roof, when Alec had been beating himself up over Jocelyn’s death. Now their roles were reversed.

“Are you okay?” Alec’s soft, concerned voice brings Jace out of his flashback. “Yeah, I’m-” Jace coughs, feeling the dryness in his throat. “I’m fine.”

Alec eyes him, sweaty body in old, worn workout clothes, the small scars on his fingers from nicking himself on knives, old scars from runes and battles alike covering his body... “You don’t seem fine.”

He beckons to Jace, turning to leave the training room. Alec leads them to his office, settling down on the couch and pulling Jace down to sit next to him. “I’m fine,” Jace insists again, folding his arms. Alec raises his eyebrows. “Remember who you’re talking to; I’m your _parabatai_ , I know exactly what you’re feeling.” Another quote by Jace himself.

After that, the two sit in silence, Alec ends up bringing several reports to the couch, chewing the tip of a pen thoughtfully while making random comments here and there and humming softly under his breath while Jace stares at him, befuddled at his _parabatai_ ’s unusually whimsical mood.

“Alec,” he finally begins. “Why am I here?” Alec stops humming, slowly turning away from his reports.

“What?” he says, cracking a faint smile. “I can’t just spend time with my _parabatai_?”

Jace frowns at him, and he sees Alec’s resolve melt away, and he slumps, forgotten papers sliding off his lap onto the floor.

“I just wanted some time alone,” Alec explains meekly. “Just the two of us. No siblings, no parents, no Shadowhunters, friends, even Clary or Magnus, whatever… just you and me.”

Jace watches as the powerful warrior Lightwood crumbles, the Head of the New York Institute becoming merely… a man, a great one, but in all, a man. And he looks so tired, of course he does, what with everything to organize after the war ended.

And Jace realizes how neglectful he was being to him, even with his own problems, being brought back from the dead and all, but he was forgetting about Alec. Alec, who always had his back, who had his burdens increased tenfold by those he felt responsible for, his people, family, _Jace_. And now, when he felt Jace was hurting, he brought them together for comfort, not just for the golden-haired Shadowhunter, but for himself, too.

“I’m sorry.”

Alec’s eyebrows tilt in confusion. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” Jace repeats. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done, for disobeying your orders with Clary, and for neglecting you and your feelings, and for ignoring you and shunning you and leaving you alone and-”

“Woah,” Alec stops Jace’s rambling, grabbing his arms. “I didn’t bring us here to talk about me. I want to ask you…” Hazel eyes bore straight into blue and brown. “Are you okay? For real, this time, not that ‘I’m fine’ crap.”

Jace opens his mouth, to lie again, maybe? To say, yes, I’m perfectly fine, I didn’t die, I’m alright, thanks for asking, how are you? But before he can, Alec interrupts him again, with a soft but wavering voice.

“I felt you die, Jace.” He presses a hand to his side. “I felt you die, inside of me and on me and I _know_ everything’s not okay. So talk to me…” Alec’s eyes are pleading now, and Jace is shocked to see tears shimmering in them. “What happened, back at Lake Lyn?”

And seeing the raw, utter desperation in those tears, the pain in his voice, and the dull throb in his rune, Jace breaks.

The story comes tripping out of his mouth, one word at a time, explaining to Alec about how Malachi had betrayed himself and Clary, how they had broken free and made it to the Lake, to the Mirror, but too late. How he had gotten stabbed by Valentine, the whispered apology, then the darkness. And Jace remembers he heard Alec’s cry, deep in his soul, before everything went dark. Then, a light probing through the mist of death, drawing him back into life. How he had struggled against it until he heard two voices. Clary’s, pleading for him to return, and Alec’s. Quiet, but insistent. Four simple words: _Don’t leave me again_. What had truly motivated him to return fully to the living.

And Jace tells about his fits, his episodes of what feels almost like possession. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he says miserably, staring at his hands. “I just hear these voices, and everything goes dizzy, and I just feel angry and miserable and evil, Alec, what’s going on with me? Why are there demons in my head?” And Alec hugs him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and drawing him in close, letting Jace rest his head on his shoulder. And he repeats the words, over and over in a mantra. _You’ll be okay, I’ll help you, We can get through this. Together. Together, together, together._ And the two stay like that, locked in an embrace, the _parabatai_ stating their vows again and again for all of eternity.

 _If aught but death part thee and me_...

**Author's Note:**

> Wooh! Exactly 1000 words!  
> Come suggest stories to me on tumblr! (booksmusicandmagic)  
> [Can someone teach me to insert links here?]  
> Thanks for reading!  
> -booksmusicandmagic


End file.
